Department of Technical Education

Andhra Pradesh
Name : MAHAMOOD
Designation : Lecturer
Branch : Civil Engineering
Institute : GPW, Hindupur
Year/Semester : VI Semester
Subject : Environmental Engineering II
Subject Code : C 605
Topic : Rural Sanitation
Duration : 100 minutes
Sub-topic : Rural sanitation
Teaching aids : PPT, Animation, photographs
Revised by : G.Appa Rao

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 OBJECTIVES
On completion of this period you would able to :

• Explain the precaution to be take for rural sanitation

• Explain the construction and working of rural latrines :

i) Pit privy
ii) Bore hole latrine
iii) Aqua privy
iv) Cess - pools

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 RECAP

Rural water Supply

The water sources are polluted with human activities like

• Bathing

• Washing cloths

• Swimming

• Cleaning animals etc

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If not protected properly people get diseases like

• Typhoid

• Dysentery

• Cholera

• Jaundice etc

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Rural Sanitation

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 What is poor sanitation?

Vis.1. Water Vis.2.Solid waste Vis.3.Toilets

Fig 1

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 Why sanitation is required?

• To maintain good health

• Personal health depends on community health

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What is to be done to have sanitation in rural
areas?

• Education about health and hygiene

• Proper collection, transportation and disposal of liquid

and solid wastes

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Sanitation
a) The hygienic and safe way of
– Utility of Sanitary fixtures
– Collecting
– Disposing of excreta and liquid wastes
b) To promote the health of individuals and the
community as a whole
c) The act or arrangement of keeping clean
surroundings
d) A pollution free surrounding is community
sanitation

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 Poor sanitary conditions in rural areas are
due to :

• Indiscriminate and unscientific disposal of liquid

and solid wastes

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 Precautions for sanitation

1. Stagnation of liquid wastes should be avoided as it

• Promotes the growth of mosquitoes, as they

communicate diseases like Malaria, Filaria etc

• Causes pollution of wells

Remedy: Dispose liquid wastes by land treatment or

soakage pits etc

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 Observations and precautions for sanitation

2. Storing of cow-dung in open pits

• The pits become breeding places for house flies

• The flies communicate diseases like typhoid,

cholera, diarrhea etc

• Manure pits are the source of foul smell

Remedy: Disposed by composting, bio-gas plant etc

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 Observations and precautions for sanitation

3. Cow - dung cakes used as fuel

• Leads to air pollution

• Seriously affects the health of rural women

Remedy: Discourage use of cow-dung cakes as fuel

and encourage alternate fuel like bio-gas

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 Observations and precautions for sanitation
4. Open defecation
• Very bad habit prevailing in rural areas
• Pollutes our environment and is unsightly
• Open wells are polluted with surface wash of fecal
matter
• Fly nuisance is more
• Leads to occurrence of hookworm disease to the
people accustomed to open defecation without
footwear
Remedy: Construct and use at least Sanitary latrines to deal
human excreta
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 Observations and precautions for sanitation

5. Indiscriminate throw of solid wastes

• Causes insanitary conditions

• Fly nuisance is more

• Spread of diseases is more

Remedy: Dispose solid wastes by sanitary landfill or

composting

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 Observations and precautions for sanitation

6. Use of artificial fertilizers

• Contaminate water sources

• Contaminate soil

• Contaminate crops if dosages are more

Remedy: Discourage use of artificial fertilizers and

encourage the use of bio-manures

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 Observations and precautions for sanitation

7. Lack of education on Environment

• Leads to maintain poor environmental conditions

Remedy: Educate to eradicate ignorance, illiteracy,

superstitions, and to successfully maintain healthy
environment in rural areas

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 Rural Latrines

1. Pit privy

2. Bore - hole privy

3. Aqua privy

4. Cesspools etc

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1. Pit Privy

• The pit size is 1.2 x 1.2 x 1.5 m

• A squatting seat is provided at top of the pit

• Seat is covered with a wooden cover which can

be kept closed when not in use

• A temporary structure is constructed over the pit

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 Pit Privy
1. Door
2. Wooden cover
3. Seat
4. Lining
5. Ventilating pipe
6. Roof
7. Pit

Fig 2
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Pit Privy contd..

• Sides are sometimes lined with wooden planks or GI

sheets

• A vent pipe is provided to allow foul gases to escape

• When the pit is filled, it is closed with 60cm thick earth

layer

• New pit is excavated by the side of it

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Pit Privy contd..
• The temporary structure is shifted to the new pit

• After each use a little earth is thrown into the pit

• Lime is applied frequently to reduce the bad odour

• The pit privy should be atleast 30m away from existing

well to avoid water pollution

• This can be adopted only if water table is low, no

surface drainage is admitted into the pit

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2. Bore-hole privy :
• It is similar to pit privy, except that instead a pit, a hole
of 300 mm to 400 mm diameter is drilled with an
auger

• The depth on hole is 4 to 8 m

• The bottom of hole should be atleast 1 m above water

table and may be 4 - 8 m deep

• It is an improved latrine as shown in the figure

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 1. Steps

2. Door

3. Seat

4. Bore hole
5
5. Water seal

6. Roof

Fig 3 BORE – HOLE PRIVY

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Bore-hole privy contd..

• The hole is drilled outside the compartment

• To avoid bad odour a trap with water seal may be
provided
• When the hole is filled, it is closed with thick earth layer
• New hole is excavated by the side of it
• The method is suitable for sandy soil areas
• The method avoids fly nuisance and bad odour

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3. Aqua Privy / Wet latrine

• It is permanent type

• It is based on the principle of septic tank

• It consists of a chamber for anaerobic digestion and a

soak pit

• Latrine pan is fixed on the top of chamber and the

drop pipe attached it is dipped into liquid

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 Roof

Door

Ventilating shaft
Squat plate

Drop pipe

To seepage or
Submergence absorption field

FIG 4 AQUA PRIVY

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Aqua Privy / Wet latrine contd..

The drop pipe extends 10 to 15 cm into the liquid, which

acts as a water seal and thus avoids bad smell

• The excreta directly goes into the chamber, settles and is

digested anaerobically

• Gases produced escape through the vent pipe

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Aqua Privy / Wet latrine

The digested sludge collected at the bottom is cleared

once in two years or so

• The liquid effluent is passed through soak pit filled with

clinkers by means of a pipe

• This method is both economical and hygienic

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4. Cesspools

Fig 5
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Cesspools contd..
• It consists of a chamber lined with dry bricks or stone-
masonry with open joints

• The bottom is unlined and allow liquids to percolate

• Only solid matter remains and undergoes anaerobic

digestion in the chamber

• Sludge is collected at the bottom and when the cesspool is

filled it is emptied

• It is cleaned once in 2 - 3 years and the materials are

disposed of suitably
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Cesspools contd..

• This is an inferior method

• It produces very bad smell

• It pollutes under ground waters

• They should not be located near the wells

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 SUMMARY
Sanitation
a) The hygienic and safe way of
» Discharging
» collecting
» Disposing of excreta and liquid wastes
b) To promote the health of individuals and the
community as a whole
c) The act or arrangement of keeping clean
surroundings
d) A pollution free surrounding is community
sanitation
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Rural sanitation :
1. Soak pits etc are used to dispose liquid waste.

2. Composting and biogas plants are used to dispose cow

dung and other organic wastes

3. Sanitary latrines are used to deal with human excreta.

4. Sanitary landfill or composting is used to dispose solid

waste.

5. Proper education is to be given to maintain healthy

environment
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Rural latrines :

1. Pit privy

2. Bore-hole privy

3. Aqua privy

4. cesspools

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 Conclusions
• Good health depends on healthy environment

• Clean body and clean ideas are necessary for good

health

• Community sanitation depends on

• Proper drainage system

• Proper disposal of liquid and solid waste

• Sanitation in keeping, cooking and eating food items,

good habits of people etc

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 Quiz

1. Sanitation means

a. Personal cleanliness

b. Proper discharge, collection and disposal of wastes

c. Both a & b

d. None of the above

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 QUIZ

2. Infectious diseases are due to

a. Poor sanitation

b. Stagnation of waste water near houses

c. Indiscriminate disposal of solid wastes

d. All of the above

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 QUIZ

3. The ground water pollution is very high due to the

following

a. Pit Privy

b. Bore-hole privy

c. Aqua privy

d. cesspools

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 QUIZ

4. The following is more hygienic

a. Pit Privy

b. Bore-hole privy

c. Aqua privy

d. cesspools

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 Frequently asked questions

1. What are the observations and precautions in rural

sanitation ?

2. Explain construction of a pit privy with a sketch

3. Explain the construction and working of a bore hole

privy with a neat sketch

4. Explain construction aqua privy with neat sketch

5. Write a short note on cesspools

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